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Defense, Hilyard carry Avonworth over Grove City @AvonworthFB @GC_EaglesFB

Tagged under: District 10, District 7, Gameday Hub, News

| August 27, 2022

Pittsburgh – D is for dominant.

Avonworth limited Grove City to 59 yards of offense and four first downs en route to a 27-7 victory over the Eagles.

“I thought our defense played lights out tonight,” said Avonworth head coach Duke Johncour. “They played near flawless. Our offense did not play flawlessly. But hey, if you can do all that and still win 27-7, we’ll take it.”

Luke Hilyard scored four touchdowns and ran for a game-high 172 yards on 24 carries.

Hilyard’s 55-yard run on the ‘Lopes’s opening possession broke the ice.

 

“It was a great performance by Luke tonight. He practices hard and plays hard,” said Johncour.

The ‘Lopes extended their lead to 14-0 following Hilyard’s 3-yard run to cap off a 28-yard drive. “He had a great start to his season, and he deserves this tonight.”

Grove City’s offense threatened for the only time in the game when Nathan Greer caught a 49-yard pass from Hunter Hohman on the final play of the first quarter.

However, Avonworth’s defense stepped up, and the Eagles lost ten yards on the next four plays, including Brandon Biagiarelli’s fourth-down sack of Hohman.

“Our defense is tough,” Johncour said. “We know we have two outstanding linebackers, and as defense, the guys came together well pursed and made a lot of plays when we needed them.”

Avonworth took a 21-0 lead following back-to-back sacks and an 18-yard punt return by Andrew Kuban. Hilyard capped the 17-yard drive with a 1-yard run.

Grove City got on the scoreboard in the second half when Jacob Arnold returned a fumble four yards for a touchdown following a bad snap.

“We have to better on offense,” said Johncour. “Too many mistakes snaps over the head of our quarterback and missed wide receivers. We stalled on three drives in the second half as a result. To fix that, we’re doing a lot of reps in practice.”

That would go on to be one of three snaps in the second half, including four total for a net loss of 51 yards four the ‘Lopes.

Three drives later, Avonworth put the game away when they marched 84 yards in 14 plays while taking up over seven minutes of the game clock.

 

Luke Hilyard scored his fourth and final touchdown from three yards out.

“The big picture is that you lose a football game, but it’s not the end of the world,” said Grove City head coach Sam Mowrey. “How we respond to this is the key. We had a lot of fresh faces out there, and they did some nice things. There will be enough nice plays on film that we’ll be able to look at and get better from.”

On the final drive of the night, Bobe Stevenson had four carries for 29 yards which led Grove City.

The Eagles had a miserable night offensively, gaining only 30 offensive yards with their varsity starters.

“What’s going to show our team colors is how we respond to adversity,” said Mowrey. “This isn’t how we envisioned it for Week 1. It wasn’t in the cards tonight. How we respond and stick together moving forward is the key now. We need to learn from our mistakes and get better from them.”

Avonworth will travel to play the 2-Time defending state champions in Central Valley next Friday night.

Grove City will look to bounce back when they host Northwestern next Friday night.

Game Highlights:

 

Avonworth 27 Grove City 7

Score by Quarters

Grove City – 0 0 7 0 – 7
Avonworth – 14 7 0 6 – 27

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

A – Luke Hilyard 55 yd run, (Mike Osekowski pat), 7:30

A – Hilyard 3 yd run, (Osekowski pat), 4:06

Second Quarter

A – Hilyard 1 yd run, (Osekowski pat), 3:19

Third Quarter

GC – Jacob Arnold 4 yd fumble return, (Jacob Stucchio pat), 8:51

Fourth Quarter

A – Hilyard 3 yd run, (Osekowski pat), 8:14

Individual Stats

Rushing: Grove City -Bode Stevenson 4-29, Joey Hathaway 6-2, Anthony Nemec 10-(-6), Hunter Hohman 9-(-23). Totals: 29-2 Avonworth – Hilyard 24-172, Brandon Biagiarelli 9-81, Nate Harper 6-2, Luke Hollywood 2-(-1), Team 4-(-51). Totals: 45-203.

Receiving: Grove City – Nate Greer 1-49, Hathawa7 1-8. Avonworth – Austin Johncour 2-43, Andrew Kuban 2-39, Peyton Faulkner 2-21, Colin Crawford 1-12, Biagiarelli 1-5, Hilyard 1-5.

Passing: Grove City – Hohman 2-for-10, 57 yards, Alex Hackwelder 0-for-2. Avonworth – Harper 9-for-18, 124 yards. Ben Barnes 0-for-1, Team 0-for-1.

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